Irish Soccer Managers

Republic of Ireland National Team Managers

To date there have been
eleven permanent managers of the Republic of Ireland soccer team. Up to
1969 the national football team did not have a manager as we know the
role today. The Irish team was chosen by a panel of selectors. In an attempt
to instil a greater degree of professionalism into the international set
up the FAI decided
to appoint a manger to make team selections and to determine playing tactics.

The former Everton player
Mick Meagan was appointed as the first manager of the Irish soccer team
in 1969. Meagan was also a former international footballer that had represented
the Republic of Ireland on 17 occasions. Ireland failed to qualify for
the 1970 World Cup or the 1972 European Championships. In the latter qualifying
campaign Ireland finished rooted to the foot of the qualification table.

Liam Tuohy spent most of
his playing career with Shamrock
Rovers however he did spend a couple of years on the books of Newcastle
United in the early 1960's. Tuohy also played for the Irish international
soccer team winning eight senior caps and scoring four goals. He went
into football management in 1964 when he took up the reins at Shamrock
Rovers. Tuohy was still playing in the team at the time. In 1971 Liam
Tuohy became the Irish manager while retaining his role as manager of
Shamrock Rovers as well as holding down a full-time job as a salesman
for a Dublin company. After just eleven international matches Tuohy resigned
as manager due to the pressure involved in holding down the three positions.
Despite some creditable performances Ireland had still failed to qualify
for any major senior soccer finals.

Following Liam Tuohy's
resignation the then manager of Bohemians, Sean Thomas, took charge of
the Irish team for one match in a caretaker capacity. On 6th June 1973
Ireland played Norway in a friendly international in Oslo and the match
ended in a 1-1 draw. Thomas had a very successful career as a club team
manager in the League of Ireland winning the league With Shamrock Rovers
in 1964. He also won the FAI Cup on three occasions with Rovers (2) and
Bohemians (1), and the FAI League Cup once with Rovers.

In October 1973 Johnny
Giles was appointed as player / manager of the Irish soccer team.
Giles had a very successful football career in England with Manchester
United and Leeds United. Widely accepted as one of the greatest footballers
ever to play for the Republic of Ireland international soccer team the
appointment of John Giles as Irish manager was popular with Irish soccer
fans. Despite some close calls and because of some decidedly poor refereeing
decisions the long-awaited qualification for a major soccer finals continued
to elude Irish soccer.

Former Irish International
goalkeeper became manager for one match on 29th October 1979 following
the departure of John Giles. Kelly resigned after just one manage as he
found it impossible to combine his Irish job with his role as manager
of English club Preston North End. Kelly had played for Preston North
End in England for 12 years and won the first of his 47 international
soccer caps against England in 1958. His one and only international fixture
as Irish manager was a home match against the United States of America.
Ireland won the match 3-2 thus making him the only Irish manager with
a 100% success rate.

After John Giles quit the
post the FAI installed Eoin Hand as the Irish soccer team manager for
the 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign. Ireland missed out on qualification
on goal difference. This was the closest that the Republic had come to
qualification for a major championships since the appointment of Irish
managers began in 1969. In 1986 Eoin Hand was dismissed by the FAI following
two disappointing Irish
qualifying campaigns for Euro
1984 and the 1986
World Cup finals. Eoin Hand had played in England for Portsmouth FC
and also won 19 caps for the senior Irish soccer team.

A golden era in Irish soccer
was presaged by the appointment
of Jack Charlton as Irish soccer manager in 1986. A former World Cup
winner with England in 1966, Charlton delivered the Irish football holy
grail by qualifying for the finals of a major soccer championship. Twenty
two years after his World Cup success Charlton led the Republic of Ireland
soccer team to the Euro 88 finals in Germany. Charlton ensured his legendary
status with Irish soccer fans by leading the Irish soccer team to qualification
for two successive World Cup Finals in 1990 and 1994. Despite these successes
he was often criticised by Eamon
Dunphy and John Giles for his long
ball tactics. Following a failed bid to qualify for Euro 1996 via
a play-off against Holland in Anfield Jack Charlton resigned from his
position as Irish soccer manager.

The next Irish soccer manager
was Mick McCarthy who was appointed in February 1996. A former captain
of the Irish football team English-born McCarthy played for Ireland 57
times. During his captaincy he earned the nickname 'Captain Fantastic'
due to his robust no-nonsense performances. In his first qualifying campaign
McCarthy's Ireland side reached the play-offs for the 1998 World Cup but
lost out narrowly to Belgium. Once again Mick McCarthy's Irish team lost
out on qualification
for Euro 2000 in the play-offs on the away goals rule against Turkey.
On the third time of asking Ireland, under McCarthy, made it through a
play-off, this time against Iran, to qualify for the 2002
World Cup finals in Japan and Korea. It was during the preparations
in Saipan for the tournament
that the infamous row (commonly known as the Saipan
Incident) between the Mick McCarthy, Irish manager and Roy
Keane, Irish captain, occurred. Following a poor start to the Euro
2004 qualifying campaign Mick McCarthy quit as Irish soccer manager
in November 2002.

In November 2002 Former
Manchester United and QPR
player Don Givens was
appointed caretaker manager of Ireland for one match, a friendly against
Greece. The result was 0-0. Givens is a former international who won 59
senior caps for the Republic. He is particularly famous for scoring a
hat trick of goals against the former USSR in a football match that announced
the arrival of Liam Brady
to the international scene. Don Givens was to become caretaker manager
for a second time in 2007.

Former youth teams manager,
Brain Kerr, was appointed Republic of Ireland manager as a successor to
Mick McCarthy. Kerr, a former manager of St
Patrick's Athletic, had enjoyed considerable success at under age
level winning the the under 16 and under 18 European Championships in
1997. That year he also led the Irish under 20's team to third place in
the World Championship finals in Malaysia. Kerr was a popular choice as
Irish manager with most soccer fans but because of the poor start in the
qualifying campaign he found it impossible to lead Ireland to the Euro
2004 finals. Following a disappointing 2006
World Cup qualifying campaign in which Ireland finished fourth in
a very tight group the FAI declined to re-appoint Brian Kerr as Irish
manager.

In January 2006 former
Irish international player Steve
Staunton was appointed as Manager of the Irish soccer team. Staunton
had enjoyed a very successful career as a player winning 102 senior caps,
an Irish record. He came to prominence under Jack Charlton and quickly
became a favourite with the Irish football fans. However it was a major
surprise when Staunton was appointed as Irish manager as he had no prior
management experience. Despite the presence of former English manager,
Bobby Robson, in his management team Staunton's reign as manager was something
of a disaster. Despite a perfect start, beating Sweden 3-0 in a friendly
first match, results very quickly went against the fledgling international
manager. A particular low point was when Cyprus beat the Republic of Ireland
5-2. Further poor performances followed and Ireland failed to qualify
for Euro 2008. In October 2007 the FAI terminated Steve Staunton's reign
as Irish soccer manager. Staunton has the unique distinction of having
managed the last Irish team to play a match at the old Lansdowne
Road (now the Aviva
Stadium) and the first ever Irish international soccer team to play
at the GAA headquarters Croke Park.

Don Givens - Caretaker Manager Once
More

Following the dismissal
of Stephen Staunton, Don Givens stepped into the role of caretaker Irish
soccer manager for the second time in October 2007. Givens, manager of
the under 21 team, took on this role until February 2008. He managed the
senior team for the last Euro 2008 qualifier, a 1-1 draw with Wales and
a friendly home international against Brazil. Ireland lost that match
0-1.

On 13th February 2008,
in a surprise appointment, the FAI
announced that Giovanni Trapattoni was to become the manager of the senior
Irish soccer team. Reportedly businessman Denis O'Brien partially funded
the Italian's annually salary. The great Italian manager, who also played
for footballing aristocrats AC Milan, had won the Italian league on seven
occasions, the European Cup once, the UEFA Cup three times and the Italian
Cup twice. In Italy he managed AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan. He
has also won the top leagues in Germany (Bayern Munich), Portugal (Benfica)
and Austria (FC Red Bull Salzburg). Trapattoni's first match as manager
of the Republic of Ireland was a home friendly against Serbia that ended
1-1.

In his first competitive
campaign Trapattoni narrowly missed out on qualification of Ireland for
the World Cup finals in South Africa. Ireland finished second in Group
8 of the 2010
World Cup qualification campaign earning the Irish
a playoff against France. Ireland lost the home leg 0-1 however took
the lead through Robbie Keane in the away leg in Paris. An infamous intervention
by the hand of Thierry Henry lead to a conclusive equaliser by William
Gallas and France won the tie 2-1 on aggregate.

Giovanni Trapattoni's crowning
achievement as the manager of Ireland was qualification
for the Euro 2012 finals, via a playoff
against Estonia. Unfortunately Trapattoni's style of play and three
comprehensive defeats at the finals led to clamours for the Italian to
step down or be fired by the FAI. Nevertheless the FAI stood by their
man and he led Ireland into the 2014
World Cup qualifiers. A disastrous 1-6 loss at home to Germany
was compounded by a 1-2 loss at home to Sweden
and a loss in Vienna against Austria.
This was too much for the FAI to accept and Trapattoni vacated the Republic
of Ireland manager's position by "mutual consent" on
11th September 2013.

In September 2013 the FAI
announced that there would be no immediate replacement for the departed
Trapattoni and that the current Under 21 manager, Noel King, would take
charge of the final two matches in Group C of the 2014
World Cup qualifiers. King lost his first match 3-0 against Germany
in Cologne. His second, and last match in charge was a 3-1 home win over
Kazakhstan.

In early November 2013
Ulsterman Martin O'Neill was appointed as full-time manager of the Republic
of Ireland. O'Neill was a former Northern Ireland captain and he had won
the European Cup with his club, Nottingham Forest. He had been previous
target of the FAI CEO, John Delaney, however Delaney got more than he
bargained for when O'Neill insisted that Roy Keane should be part of his
backroom staff. In the wake of the Saipan Incident Delaney and Keane did
not have a good relationship. The appointment of this management team
both excited and worried many Irish football supporters. How long could
this volatile mixture remain stable? Notwithstanding any trepidation about
the management team the new Irish set-up got off to good start with a
3-0 win against Latvia at the Aviva
Stadium on the 15th November 2013.